Friday, May 22, 2015

Five for Friday~ May 22

Happy Friday again Friends!

Today is my last day of school and what better time to reflect!

So, this edition of Five for Friday will be all about

THE BEST AND WORST of THIS SCHOOL YEAR!

BEST STEM Idea:

In the challenge above students were divided into groups and then each group was partnered with another. Each group had the exact same supplies, but they had to build different things. After the items were built the two groups had to join them together to make a workable rescue device. This was CHALLENGING and also quite super! I loved it!

WORST STEM Idea:

Above are students at work building pulley systems to raise and lower food baskets. Of course, they didn't have pulleys, but had to create them out of the supplies given to them. This was so bad. So. Bad. Some could raise the food basket. But no one could raise and lower it successfully.
I blame it on the supplies chosen and I still think it is a great project. Maybe next year!

BEST Scientific Method Idea:

The pancake challenge in the above photo was a spectacular hit with the kids. We experimented with making batches - very small batches- of pancakes. We mixed up the first batch with a missing ingredient and then tasted them. Then I told the kids what was missing and let them in on how they would complete this. They had to experiment with adding different amounts of the mystery ingredient until they found the amount that made the best pancake. And, of course, they got to taste all the pancakes. After finding the right amount of the ingredient we then doubled and doubled and doubled the recipe and made a large batch. The kids brought toppings and ate til their tummies hurt!

WORST Scientific Method Idea:

So, this idea in testing towels was to drop little drops of water onto towel samples until the water dripped through. The goal was to find the most absorbent towel. I got several kinds of terry cloth towels and then found some microfiber towels. The one find that was the most fun was a towel (from the dollar store) that said on the label, "World's Most Absorbent Towel". I cut little pieces of all the towels, and we stretched pieces over plastic beakers and put a rubber band around the top to keep the towel piece tight. Then the kids dripped water onto the towel using pipettes. Well, all of that part worked really nicely and the kids thought they were real little scientists cause they used pipettes and wore safety goggles. They kept dripping until water leaked through to the beaker and counted the drops. Here's what our data showed:
1. The World's Most Absorbent Towel from the dollar store dripped the fastest.
2. Some towels held so much water that it never dripped inside the beaker. It spread all the way across the towel and leaked onto to the table. Skewed our data a little, I think.
3. Every group got different answers- -except for the World's Most Absorbent Towel. It always dripped through after two drops of water.
4. Microfiber towels also leaked very quickly.
5. The extremely cheap cotton terry cloth towels from Wal Mart were the most absorbent.

Why was this the worst ..... LOTS of prep and LOTS of clean up. And laying all those little towel pieces out to dry was a problem. The kids loved it though!

BEST Instagram Photo :

I have three cats. This is my middle cat, Wookee. He's a tabby and mostly an outdoor cat. He's a killer and makes a regular route of the yard to patrol all the bushes and flower beds, constantly on the look out for a chipmunk or bunny. He kills something just about daily. He has the best personality. He especially likes to get in things, on top of things, and is hugely curious.

Don't believe me?

Look at the photo below.

Yes, that's Wookee sitting on top of the chimney on top of my two story house.

He's my favorite cat, so his photos have to be my favorite Instagram ones.

WORST Instagram Photo:

This is the worst photo only because of what it is about. We woke up one morning to find the laundryroom flooded and it was a mess to clean up. Those two cats are Luigi and Roo, just wondering why all the towels are on the floor!

Do you follow me on Instagram? Sometimes I have cat pictures and sometimes school pictures and sometimes just silly stuff!

BEST Book:

What a delicious book this one was!
It was funny, shocking, and just full of great characters. It's about a group of moms that all have children at the local school. One of them accuses another's child of bullying and that mom is then treated unfairly by others. Another mom befriends her and then the gossip does fly!
Granted this is not a classic read, more of a beach read, but you would probably like it!

WORST Book:
This book is about Olivia who returns to her childhood home with her two children, one of whom disappears. Before you get to that part of the story, however, you find out that when Olivia was younger she had twin baby sisters that died. As she was growing up herself her mom continued to pretend the babies were alive. Their bedroom was kept clean, they purchased baby clothes and diapers, and even prepared baby food everyday.
Really.

I got as far as reading about Olivia seeing her sisters when they are teenagers and then I put the book in my donation pile. I have a pile of old books I no longer want or have rejected because they were BAD. I will take those to the library soon!

BEST DAY:
I had something else planned for this last best and worst and then this happened:

A thunderstorm passed over my house on Wednesday afternoon and only moments later I noticed the sun shining very brightly and I flew out the front door. I knew I would find this and there it was!
A spectacular double rainbow, the full arch, brilliant bright colors.

I can't think of a worst after seeing this!
Besides today was my last day of school! Have a great weekend!

4 comments
:

Happy last day! I'm a little bit jealous. I have 4 weeks left! I love my class and will miss them, but I seriously love summer! That rainbow is amazing. I'm going to follow you on Instagram so I can keep up with your cat and classroom photos! For the next couple of months, I guess there will be more cats than classroom! Have a wonderful first week off!JanLaughter and Consistency